Earth moving apparatus



June 4, 1963 B. B. WEST EARTH MOVING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 2, 1961 AINVENTOR. I: Balm/'13 Was! ATTCI RN EYS Unite tates This inventionrelates to an apparatus for moving dirt or earth.

The object of the invention is to provide a device which is in thenature of an anger or conveyor that is arranged forwardly of an earthmoving blade so that the auger can be used for continually moving dirtor earth from in front of the blade whereby the dirt will be kept frompiling up in front of the blade.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device which consists ofa member that is adapted to be connected to an earth moving blade suchas a bulldozer blade, and wherein the attachment of the presentinvention in cludes an auger that can be used for moving dirt from infront of the blade to either side of the blade so that the dirt will notpile up in front of the blade, and wherein a suitable motor or engine isprovided for operating the auger.

A further object of the invention is to provide an earth moving devicewhich is extremely simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent during the course of thefollowing description.

In .the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, andin which like numerals are used to designate like parts throughout thesame:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view illustrating the earth movingapparatus of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the assembly of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a top plan view of the assembly.

FIGURE 4 is a plan view showing the device detached or removed from theblade unit.

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 55 of FIGURE 4.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral indicates aconventional blade unit which is adapted to be arranged in front of asuitable machine such as a tractor or bulldozer or the like, and theblade unit 10 is adapted to be connected to such machine by means ofbraces 11 and 12, FIGURE 2. Extending upwardly and rearwardly from theblade unit 10 and secured thereto are pairs of lugs 13 which arearranged in spaced parallel relation with respect to each other.

The numeral 14 indicates a support member wihch includes a pair ofspaced parallel rearwardly disposed arms 15 which are connected to thelugs 13 in any suitable manner, as for example by means of pins orsecuring elements 22. The support member 14 further includes ahorizontally disposed beam 16 which has a pair of spaced parallelforwardly disposed legs 17 secured thereto, and the legs 17 havebearings 18 mounted in their lower end portions.

The numeral 19 indicates an anger or conveyor which includes a shaft 20that has its ends journaled in the bearings 18, and a spiral blade 21 ismounted on the shaft 20. It is to be noted from the drawings, that theauger 19 is longer than the blade unit 10 so that the dirt can be read-"ice ily or effectively moved from in front of the blade unit 10 off tothe side of the blade unit so that the dirt will be kept from piling upin front of the blade, and this will permit the blade unit or machine tobe operated with greater ease of efiiciency or facility.

A means is provided for operating or driving the auger 19, and thismeans comprises a sprocket 23 which is arranged on an end of the shaft20. An endless chain 24 is trained over the sprocket 23, and the chain24 is also trained over a sprocket 25 which is mounted on a shaft 26,the shaft 26 being driven by a conventional motor or en gine 27. Themotor 27 is mounted on the support member 14 as shown in the drawings,and the motor 27 may be secured in place by means of brackets 28. Thenumeral 29 indicates a gear shift lever which can be used for reversingrotation of the shaft 26 so that the auger 19 can be driven in either aforward or reverse direction whereby the dirt can be moved to eitherside of the blade unit as desired.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that there has been provided anattachment for use with a bulldozer or the like, wherein dirt or earthwill be continually moved from in front of the bulldozer blade off tothe side so that this dirt will be kept from piling up whereby the bladecan operate more efilciently or effectively. In use, the pairs of lugs13 are secured to the upper rear portion of the blade unit 10 in anysuitable manner, as for example by welding. The attachment of thepresent invention includes the support member 14 which embodies the arms15 that are connected to the lugs 13 by means of pins 22. The supportmember 14 further includes the beam 16 and forwardly disposed legs 17which carry the bearings 18, and the shaft 20 of the auger 19 isjournaled in the bearings 18. It is to be noted that the auger 19 isarranged in front of the blade unit 10, and the auger unit is longerthan the blade unit so that the dirt can be readily moved out past theends of the blade unit. The motor 27 is adapted to be secured on top ofthe support member 14, and the motor 27 drives the shaft 26 which inturn rotates the auger 19. Due to the provision of the gear shift lever29, the direction of rotation of the shaft 20 can be controlled asdesired so that the dirt can be moved off to either side of the bladeunit as desired.

When the device is not being used, the pins 22 can be removed so thatthe entire unit can be readily removed from the front of the tractor orbulldozer so that the bulldozer can be used in the usual manner.

The parts can be made of any suitable material and in difierent shapesor sizes.

Thus, it will be seen that there has been provided an attachment whichis especially suitable when working on terraces or the like, and whereinthe device or attachment will prevent dirt from piling up in front ofthe blade. The attachment includes the revolving auger which is operatedby the engine 27 and the entire attachment is connected to a dirt movingblade unit 10, and this blade unit 10 may be in the nature of a straightdozer, angle dozer, or the like. The purpose of the attachment is toassist or speed-up the movement of dirt to the vicinity of the ends ofthe blade where it is disposed of. The auger is longer than the blade soas to give the dirt a better chance to move out of the way. Since theauger is cap-able of forward or reverse motion or rotation in eitherdirection, the dirt can be spilled olf either end of the blade.

Minor changes in shape, size and rearrangement of details coming withinthe field of invention claimed may be resorted to in actual practice, ifdesired.

I claim:

In an earth moving apparatus including a blade unit and at least twopairs of lugs arranged in spaced parallel relation with respect to eachother and said lugs extending upwardly and rearwardly of said bladeunit, a support member embodying a pair of spaced parallel arms,detachably connected to said lugs, said support member further includinga horizontally disposed beam secured to said arms, a pair of spacedparallel legs extending forwardly from the outer ends of said beam andsecured thereto, bearings connected to the lower end portions of thelegs of the support member, an auger including a shaft extending throughsaid bearings and having the portion adjacent one end thereofexteriorly-of the adjacent leg, said References Cited in the file ofthis patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 864,151 Blaisdell Aug. 27, 19071,410,585 McCall Mar. 28, 1922 1,508,716 Ochs Sept. 16, 1924 1,569,531Barry Jan. 12, 1926 2,093,766 Rich Sept. 21, 1937 2,109,393 Le Bleu Feb.22, 1938

